Engravers’ exhibit open at RCCAC

July 8, 2013

Wood Engravers' Network Relief Engraving Exhibition 2012 opened Friday and is the first juried exhibition sponsored by the Wood Engravers' Network. The traveling exhibit features 60 prints and three artist books by 33 relief engraving artists from the United States, Canada, Russia and the United Kingdom.

"Generally, wood engraving is a small-format medium employing imagery that is monochromatic and more traditional in approach," said James Horton, WEN organizer. "These generalizations have exceptions and contemporary exhibitions are evidence that fresh eyes are challenging these conventions. There is a new generation emerging with fresh enthusiasm and courage."

Tim Peterson, exhibit juror and director and curator of Franklin Art Works added, "WEN's membership, spanning North America, Europe and Asia, shows the continuing vitality of the media and the unrelenting inventiveness of artists working in wood engraving."

The juror, Tim Peterson, is the director and curator of Franklin Art Works, a nationally acclaimed alternative space located in Minneapolis where he has organized over 130 solo exhibitions. Prior to founding Franklin Art Works, Peterson held curatorial positions at the Lannan Foundation (Los Angeles) and the Williams College Museum of Art (Williamstown, Mass.). At Williams, Peterson organized the exhibition and publication, "British Book Illustration: 1924-1936" for Williams' Chapin Library, featuring many works in wood engraving.

The Wood Engravers' Network, started in 1994, boasts over 200 members from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. This group of printmakers, with a specific interest in wood engraving, created a forum to facilitate communication, encouragement and education in this historic, yet contemporary relief medium.